On October 21, 2017 at 07:34, buzz said...
Some GC's can be absolute jerks.
Also, some GCs can be absolute idiots.
Commercial jobs use equipment entirely different from residential jobs, mainly being commercial equipment with 70 volt amplification, as well as being monaural, so... Just for the record, this is not a commercial job. You're doing an MDU job, which is to say multi-dwelling unit. It's still residential, not commercial.
Is this important? If you want DirecTV for such a building, you'll be talking with their MDU division. Their residential division won't handle you, and you'll just get confused if you try to talk to their commercial division or their business division.
A business arrangement that can work well is to work for the owner, not the general contractor, but you have to know the owner. As you may have found with resi projects reigned over by an interior desecrator, anyone who gets in between the owner and the user, such as a general contractor, is likely to mess things up so the end user doesn't get reasonable results. One thing I've seen is one RG6 to every TV position... and nothing else to those positions... in new construction within the last five years. It's what the GC thought was needed AND what the GC was willing to pay for.
On one job, as we were packing up after finishing the pre-wire, the GC suddenly brought up wire type codes, hinting that we would need to re-do everything with code compliant wire. I don't know how many other A/V guys he pulled this stunt on, but we directed him to the compliance markings printed on the wire and left.
Good for you. You knew your craft. He's apparently been able to make life hell for installers who don't know the right products to use. Also, this would be a moment that you could tell the owner about, telling him the GC seemed to be more concerned to bring down a hammer than to get the right thing for the right price for the owner.
